


angel, you can burn

by ravenboy



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Attempted Sexual Assault, Heist, In chapter 2, Love Triangles, M/M, Spy - Freeform, Strangers to Lovers, Swearing, jaehyuck endgame, markhyuck is NOT endgame, superheroes!dream, villain!hyuck, villain!jaehyun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:00:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23786734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenboy/pseuds/ravenboy
Summary: When Donghyuck's not being hunted by his ex-superhero friends and ex-boyfriend, he's making dumb decisions. Like joining Yangyang's team in trying to rob the Crown Jewel from the Royal Palace.In comes Valentine, who decides Donghyuck's pretty enough to help him escape.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 21
Kudos: 97





	1. The First Spark

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: MARKHYUCK IS NOT ENDGAME. i've tagged them even though they're exes because they have their moments, it's a love triangle but they don't end up together. i warned you!! please enjoy this jaehyuck oasis in the middle of a desert. props to my beta too <3

Donghyuck realises that of all Mark and Renjun’s countless buttons he’s ever pushed, this might’ve been the last one.

Now, all he can do really is leave it up to Jeno for some kind of leniency, some mercy. It’s not like he meant to start the fire, and it was an abandoned building anyway. No one got hurt so he doesn’t see why Dream were so desperate to get their prim and proper, goody-two-shoes hands on him.

He runs away after that anyway, because right after the fire brigade, Donghyuck is the second person Mark calls, which is definitely a cue for him to hide away for the night. He does feel bad, not for starting the fire, but because Dream had always managed to cover for him, tolerate him, under the pretense that he was just getting through his rebellious phase, and Donghyuck felt bad for lying to them. Because Donghyuck liked causing havoc and ruin, he didn’t want to follow the rest of them, with strict regulations and tight schedules and having to take orders from exploitative people who just didn’t understand teenage boys. He’d much rather blow up shit and break glass.

Donghyuck is lucky that it was Friday because when he goes back to school on Monday, Mark and Renjun have had two days to calm down.

“Lee Donghyuck, if I don’t see your ass turn the fuck around and get here in a second, I will pulverize you with no care for school property.”

Mark’s lying, Donghyuck can tell, because he would never laser Donghyuck, and he wouldn’t even risk harming the lockers. But Donghyuck can also tell he’s angry because he’s swearing.

Donghyuck turns around to face Mark’s glare, and of course, Renjun, Jaemin and Jeno’s behind him. He guesses Jisung and Chenle were told to get on with their classes otherwise all six of them would have sent Donghyuck down to hell if looks could kill.

He forges a smile on his face and walks up to them.

“What the fuck were you thinking, Hyuck?” Renjun’s the one to start the nagging.

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. Clearly, he wasn’t thinking at the time or he would’ve chosen a spot less likely to point back to him, but he doesn’t want to anger Renjun further.

“It was an _accident_. And no one got hurt.”

Jeno shakes his head, not meeting his eyes, and Donghyuck has the merit to feel somewhat guilty at that.

“That’s not the point. The only reason they’re going to believe it was an accident is if you told them you were playing around with your powers. And that’s illegal anyway!”

This is exactly why Donghyuck hated their side. Of course, being known as the bad guy wasn’t exactly a preference, but only being able to train or use his power when someone in a suit commanded, like an on and off switch, was suffocating for Donghyuck’s style. He wasn’t built for that; fire was meant to be released into the wide space, open.

He guessed Jaemin saw through his stubborn facade to see an inkling of remorse, as he inches closer, hand resting on Renjun’s lower back which Donghyuck makes a mental note to ask him about later.

“I heard Vulcan was also in the area, maybe we can get away without it tracing back to Hyuck.”

Renjun visibly relaxes at Jaemin’s touch, but Mark still glares at him. Donghyuck doesn’t have time for this.

“Look, whatever. If I get caught, then I get caught by them. You guys don’t have to involve yourselves when no one was injured.” He turns around to walk back to class, as Jeno sighs and drags Jaemin off to their club meeting.

Renjun turns to Mark, who still has his eyes fixated on Donghyuck’s retreating figure, and wonders if it’s anger or care that he sees. He nudges Mark and scrutinizes him, both to figure out if Mark’s still holding on to something forbidden and to warn Mark of the very thought. Mark shakes his head as they head out in opposite directions.

* * *

He’s perched on the ledge of a windowsill just out of sight from the Dream HQ, a spot he found courtesy of Mark.

(“Mark, please!”

“No.”

“I won’t even pick it up, I just want to see them.”

Mark sighs. Bringing Donghyuck to HQ was his first mistake. Accidentally mentioning their weapons room was his second. He sighs and finally concedes because when can he not for Donghyuck. While he trusts Donghyuck to not brazenly pick up and start shooting, he leans against the windowsill with a cool breeze rubbing against his hair. After a while, Donghyuck joins him, arms touching, burning against Mark’s.

“There’s a ledge on the outside of this building if you peek around the corner.”

To his dismay, Donghyuck leans so far forward that Mark’s instinct has him gripping his waist to hold him back, his chest breathing lightly against Donghyuck’s back.

“I see it! How do you get there?” Donghyuck questions, either oblivious or too obviously ignorant of Mark’s touch against his skin.

Mark shrugs, and Donghyuck feels the movement on his shoulder blades.

“I think there’s a ladder you can climb from the outside, but it gets too wet to risk slipping.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. Mark forgets he’s talking to someone who breathes fire for fun. Mark’s too concentrated on controlling his heartbeat.)

Donghyuck uses his heat to dry off the ladder rungs, and now, he sits on the ledge, listening in to Dream’s conversation as they sharpen their knives.

“Last chance this, last chance that. He’s never going to change, Mark.”

Mark sighs heavily, “He will. He has good in his heart. He knows that Dream is the right option.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes, arguing that it’s been seven years of covering for Donghyuck’s ass with nothing in return.

“Maybe it is time to let the higher-ups bring him in,” Jeno adds. Which hurts, because Jeno was always the one to look after his wounds and his injuries when everyone else would storm off in anger. He supposes that the actions were a result of his kindness in his heart and not a soft spot for Donghyuck.

“You really want to involve them in this? And Jaemin, nothing in return? Really? Do 17 years of friendship not mean a damn to you?” Renjun’s the one arguing back. Donghyuck supposes it makes sense that the two that scolded him the most to better himself were the ones who really believed in whatever good he had left.

Jisung speaks for the first time since they’ve entered the room. “Donghyuck isn't the good guy we think he is anymore. If we give him to the higher-ups they’ll just get rid of him like they do every other villain. I know we can’t handle seeing that. And if we keep covering after him, he’s just going to get worse and worse until your illusion of him breaks, and then it’ll be too late.”

The rest blink. “What are you suggesting?”

Donghyuck holds his breath. He doesn’t know whether he should listen or run.

“To bring him in ourselves. Gather enough intel to be able to expose him if he steps out of line again.”

Renjun raises his eyebrows. “So, threaten him?”

Chenle scoffs. “I know you still think he’s a friend,”

Donghyuck half laughs at this, knowing Chenle had given up on their friendship right after Donghyuck had,

“But it’s the rules he doesn’t like. He’s so against the entire system of being good that he left his friends, his boyfriend, his family to escape it.” Both Mark and Donghyuck wince at that.

“If we expose him, he won’t be able to live a normal life without joining us.”

Donghyuck purses his lips and leans back against the wall. A couple minutes of silence pass and he thinks Dream have left until he hears Renjun.

“Don’t you think you’re too obvious? They’re not idiots, they’re trained to pick up weaknesses like this.”

Mark squints, not following what Renjun was talking about.

“Your feelings for Donghyuck.” Renjun states.

Donghyuck has had years of practice in self-restraint but it was never his forte, he inhales sharply and straightens his back, the ledge creaking beneath him.

Mark doesn’t hear. “No.” Donghyuck hears nothing but pin-drop silence that suffocates him. “I don’t know what you're talking about Renjun.”

“Get over him, Mark. They’re right, you know. He left you to do whatever he wants. Whatever feelings he had, and still may have, are unimportant to him.” Renjun breathes deeply. “Let him go Mark, or one day your love for him might have you trailing a little too far after him.”

Donghyuck isn’t an idiot to not realise what Renjun was insinuating. What he is though, is annoyed. It wasn’t the first time he had thought of leaving together _with_ Mark, but for Renjun to act like he was manipulating Mark into joining him was absurd.

Donghyuck slides down the ladder, hood up and face low. He feels scared, not for the betrayal from the people he used to call friends, but for his freedom that might disappear soon at the hands of children who loved the rule book. It annoyed him, even more than seeing care in Renjun’s face and affection in Mark’s tone.

Chenle was right anyway. Donghyuck was born bad. But the freedom to dance with his fire in the open, the thrill of being caught stealing and the catharsis in wreaking havoc, that’s what kept him alive.

He brings out his phone to scroll down to the contact.

In just a few minutes, he’s perched on another rooftop, with Double Zero by his side.

“So, Inferno, I don’t really have all the time in the world you know? Better start talking.” Double Zero awaits him expectantly.

“Whatever gig you have right now, I want in.”

Double Zero raises his eyebrows. “You’re serious? It’s a big one.”

Donghyuck raises his eyebrows in challenge.

“We’re stealing the Crown Jewel from the palace.”

Donghyuck tries not to choke on his own spit. “The Crown Jewel? You’re crazy. Do you even have a plan?”

Double Zero smirks, “Course we do. Ghost has this new boy toy who happens to be Prince Hendery.”

Donghyuck has to try harder to conceal his surprise. “The guy who turns invisible? He managed to score Hendery?” Double Zero smiles and nods. “Where do I fit in?”

“We need someone that can go in and out of the room, and well, Ghost needs to keep Hendery occupied. You’re the only one that can hurt the guards without actually wrecking the building.”

Donghyuck fails to tell him that he wasn't actually planning on using his powers, hopes that whatever memory he retained from combat training would be enough. “Text me the details. And hey,” Donghyuck scratches the back of his head. “Thanks. I know you didn’t really need another person onboard.”

“Oh baby, the faster that jewel is out of there, the faster I can start blowing shit up.”

Donghyuck returns to his apartment, peering down at his text notification.

**Double Zero** : Thursday night. Park at 12. Yangyang btw.

* * *

Thursday night comes a lot faster than Donghyuck expects and soon he’s waiting for his cue around the back entrance of the palace kitchen. He’s following the plan they discussed two days ago and here he is, disguised as a waiter for the coincidental ball happening.

His earpiece crackles before Ghost’s voice comes in. “I’ve just left Hendery’s room. Kun, the head chef, will come in to give you a map of the palace layout. Grab a plate and head to the rendezvous point.”

The plan was simple. Prince Hendery would sneak Ghost into his room in the morning, under the illusion that his boyfriend wanted to spend time with him. Donghyuck, working as a waiter for the ball, would meet him at the second kitchen, at the far corner of the palace, where Ghost would take his platter and uniform to head back into the hall. From there, Donghyuck would pick the lock and take the stairs down to the safe. Yangyang would guard the elevator from above, and Ten would hack the cameras to show a recurring loop of the same pre-filmed video.

As expected, Kun arrives and soon Donghyuck is passing off his platter to Hendery, and drawing out his lockpick from his pocket. After a few minutes, the door clicks open and Donghyuck slips on his mask, heading down the long wind of stairs.

His earpiece muffles the background noise of Yangyang and Donghyuck realises he’ll probably lose connection once he’s in the room.

“Infer-” He hears Ten’s voice. “Guar- knock them o-.”

Donghyuck tries not to panic at the thought of being faced with guards, and actually having to use his powers without killing them. He tries to remember any of the combat training he had from Dream a few years ago. He sneaks across the wall and peeks around the corner to see a long corridor with two guards at the end of it.

But what Donghyuck isn’t expecting is guards _already_ knocked out laying on the floor, the security door to the safe open.

“Ten? Why are they already out?” But he only hears static in return.

He hears Mark’s voice from six years back, “ _Don’t panic. If anything ever goes wrong in the mission, the worst thing you can do is panic. Continue the mission, if you ever go back, you’re likely to get caught._ ” Not that he wants to follow his ex-boyfriend’s rules, but it was better than getting flustered and doing something stupid.

Donghyuck continues down the corridor, soft in his movement like he was taught. He opens the safe door and sees the crown jewel in its glass case in the middle, surrounded by a circle of lasers he wouldn’t have seen if not for a very pretty man standing right across him.

“What the fuck?”

The man raises his eyebrows. “You don’t look like security.”

Donghyuck tries not to let his confusion show. “I’m not.”

The man smiles, and Donghyuck thinks he looks even prettier with his dimples. “I’m Valentine. You must have heard of me, and you are?”

Donghyuck has, but before he can say anything, his earpiece comes in again. “Secu- Get ou- Quickly.”

Now, Donghyuck starts to panic. He doesn’t know if he should get out of there with the jewel or not, hell, he doesn’t even know how to get past the lasers. And then there’s the case of Valentine who might stop him from leaving.

It looks like Valentine had gotten the same message, because he turns to Donghyuck with a smirk. “Looks like they’ve caught us. Now, do you want to stay in here from your own accord or do I need to put in the work?”

_Shit_ , Donghyuck curses, _shit shit shit_. Donghyuck doesn’t know what to do. His training didn’t tell him the protocol for another hero or villain or anyone not part of the plan intercepting. He’s closest to the door so he could try to break out before Valentine even touches him, but he doesn’t want to test his speed. Or his aim, as he spots Valentine drawing out his gun.

But what choice does he have? He tries to open the door to leave but before he can even grab the handle, Valentine is on him pushing him against the wall, gun to his neck.

“Relax. I’m not going to kill you. Security might, in about two minutes.”

Donghyuck tries to negotiate. “We can both make it out in that time.”

Valentine clicks his tongue. “We could, but then they could very well lead right back to me. If you’re here, then they won’t bother finding someone else to put the blame on.”

Donghyuck tries fighting out of his grasp. He hits Valentine’s elbow, loosening his clutch on Donghyuck’s collar, and ducks under his arm, reaching for the door. Valentine slides his foot under Donghyuck and Donghyuck crashes his face into the door, cracking his mask. Valentine pushes him against the wall, tying one handcuff to his right arm. Donghyuck’s earpiece only relays static, and this is where he dies, he thinks. Maybe he should have apologised to Renjun for stealing his jacket when he left, but there’s not much else he regrets.

Before Valentine ties the second handcuff to the handle of the door, he spins Donghyuck around and freezes.

Donghyuck doesn’t know what he’s looking at. Now that his mask is gone, Valentine’s eyes roam every part of his face, and Donghyuck is terrified. If he didn’t die at the hands of the security guards, Valentine was definitely coming back to kill him, now that he knew his face.

Valentine takes a while to stare at Donghyuck, and so Donghyuck stares back. Valentine’s skin is smooth, a perfect flush on his cheeks. His eyes sparkle, which is crazy, Donghyuck thinks, because there’s no light in the room apart from the lasers. And his lips-

Before Donghyuck can continue his shameless thoughts, he wonders if all beautiful people were fucking crazy, because Valentine adjusts the other handcuff onto his own left hand. “What the fuck are yo-” Donghyuck’s voice is cut off as Valentine pulls him out the door and into the corridor. They have about 30 seconds left before the guards come down the elevators, but Valentine leads them to the vents instead. Why didn’t Yangyang think of _that_?

“Climb up,” Valentine orders.

Donghyuck thinks he’s crazy. But everything is happening too fast for his brain to question, so he follows without a word. Valentine climbs up behind him and it’s all too cramped, especially when they’re handcuffed to each other which Donghyuck can’t even justify a good reason for.

“Keep going straight until I tell you to stop,” Valentine’s voice echoes throughout the vents.

Donghyuck follows, because he’d rather get out of this air vent as soon as he can, and if that means having to go straight rather than going back and facing the guards, he trusts Valentine to get him there and hopefully not just kill him in here.

Soon enough, they’re out, and Donghyuck can clearly hear the words coming out of his earpiece again.

“Inferno, I don’t know if you’re hearing this, but they’re securing the perimeter around the palace. Go into hiding as soon as you’re out.”

“Yangyang? I didn’t get the jewel.”

“You’re alive! Thank god. Don’t worry about it, just leave and destroy the earpiece. I’ll be in contact as soon as it’s safe.”

Donghyuck takes out his earpiece with his left hand and stomps on it, losing his only way of getting to Yangyang for now.

He turns to Valentine. “Ok, Valentine’s Day, you can uncuff us now. We both need to go into hiding unless you’re planning to kill me here and then run off. But then again, you wouldn’t risk a gunshot revealing your position, would you?”

Valentine smirks, and it both frustrates Donghyuck and lights up a warmth in his cheeks. “Calm down, pretty boy. Just call me Jaehyun, and I already told you, I’m not going to kill you.” Donghyuck ignores the nickname. Then Jaehyun turns away and Donghyuck’s looking at a bashful face mumbling to the dirt, “But, I did kind of, you know, lose the key.” It’s quiet and shy, not like Jaehyun's image up until now, but Donghyuck catches it anyway.

“You _what_?”

“I have a hideout not far from here though. We’ll go there.”

“ _We_ are not doing anything. I can burn through the metal,” he says as he brings his hand up.

Jaehyun's hand is on his before he can start. “What? And risk losing control, burning us both and giving away our position?” Donghyuck’s eyes give away his shock. Jaehyun sighs, “That’s right pretty boy. Just because you haven’t heard of me, doesn’t mean I haven’t heard of you. As long as you don’t have full control over the fire, you’re not using it around me.”

Donghyuck gulps. Jaehyun wasn’t wrong, but his pride was too thin for an attack like this. Still, he couldn’t risk killing not only himself, but this fine man standing right across him. Not after what happened anyway. He wills himself not to roll his eyes and sounds like he’d rather just the earth swallow him whole, “Lead the way then.”

And if Donghyuck’s cheeks heat up and his palms start sweating when Jaehyun holds his hand and leads him to his hideout, where he would probably lose contact with anyone he’s ever known, and is more than likely to be killed without anyone ever finding his body, Donghyuck hopes Jaehyun ignores it.


	2. the flare ignites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donghyuck tries to get used to having Jaehyun around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to my beta, hayley! she transformed this chapter honestly. 
> 
> sorry for the slow updates! i hope you like the chapter :)

When Donghyuck arrives at Jaehyun’s supposedly safe hideout, it’s everything he doesn’t expect. 

He doesn’t expect Jaehyun to lead him into an apartment for one, half-excited to see what kind of base Jaehyun operated in. And he certainly doesn’t expect Jaehyun to be so willing to share the place that looked very much  _ lived-in _ with Donghyuck. Whoever  _ did  _ live there, didn’t seem to want Donghyuck to intrude. 

Donghyuck awkwardly stands in the middle of the living room while Jaehyun heads into the kitchen. “And I’m allowed to leave whenever?”

Jaehyun nods, focused on whatever he was chopping up. “I already said that, pretty boy. But I don’t want you leaving if it means people are still out there looking for you.”

Donghyuck squints his eyes in suspicion. Not that it matters, because Jaehyun isn’t even looking at him. “It’s Donghyuck. Why do you care if I get caught or not? Half an hour ago you were okay with letting them kill me.”

Donghyuck wonders if Jaehyun’s smirk was supposed to be an answer because he waits for silence. Jaehyun only speaks up after he sets the water to boil. “Don’t you have anyone else to call? Someone who can pick you up?”

Donghyuck scoffs. The only person he can possibly call is Mark. Any of the other guys would be all too eager to handcuff his own powers. Given that Mark wouldn’t kill him first. Not to mention the fact that he can’t just call his ex. He doesn’t want to explain all this to Jaehyun anyways, so he just sticks with saying:

“No. I’m sure it’ll be fine if I just leave by myself anyway.”

Jaehyun deadpans. “Let me amend the condition. You’re free to leave if it’s  _ safe _ to leave. Which is not right now.” He leans back against the countertop and the faint smell of whatever Jaehyun was cooking reaches Donghyuck’s empty stomach. “Go have a shower while I finish up the food.”

Donghyuck doesn’t want to question how Jaehyun’s so okay with all this, given that they both could hurt each other at any given time. Not that Donghyuck thinks Jaehyun will, or even know what his power was. He doesn’t even know why Jaehyun’s being so caring towards him, but he’d rather not get on his bad side and lose the chance to have a meal while he can. So, he jumps into the shower, trying to forget any thoughts that might make the water warmer than it is. 

* * *

He’s losing it. Donghyuck doesn’t expect the fresh set of clothes awaiting him on the bed. He didn’t foresee Jaehyun to think about how Donghyuck would probably have to go back to his stained, dirtied clothes otherwise. It’s new for him, and when he enters the kitchen again, Jaehyun hears his stomach rumbling before he sees Donghyuck. 

Jaehyun turns around and does a double take on him. Donghyuck’s black shirt is hanging off a little loose around his shoulders but Jaehyun’s fixation goes unnoticed.

“What’s for— ” Donghyuck doesn’t know what to call the meal right now. It’s past midnight and he’s just hungry and tired. “Food?”

Jaehyun’s mouth twitches up. “Just ramen. I didn’t have time to make anything too special.”

Donghyuck nods and sits down in front of his plate. Really, he can hear Renjun in his head scolding him for being so careless, but every time Donghyuck looks up to stare at Jaehyun when he thinks he’s not looking, he doesn’t feel anything but safe.

“What’s your power?” He asks Jaehyun. He’s asking partly because he’s curious, as if Jaehyun’s looks weren’t powerful enough, and partly because he’s terrified. If Jaehyun is somehow able to keep him trapped in here, Donghyuck’s not sure if he wants to use his powers to get out of it. He’s not sure he  _ can _ without bringing the whole building down in flames. 

“Teleportation.” 

Donghyuck nearly chokes on his ramen. Jaehyun looks up at him in concern. 

“You can teleport? Why didn’t you use it to escape?”

Jaehyun stares directly into Donghyuck’s eyes, and Donghyuck feels his flame soften inside. “Well, then I wouldn’t have you standing in front of me, would I?”

He has to stoop his head down low and fast to make sure Jaehyun doesn’t catch his blush. If Mark thought Donghyuck was crazy, he’d faint if he met Jaehyun. 

The question Donghyuck wants to ask still lingers in the air, but he decides to let it go for another time. “Can’t you just teleport outside to see if it’s safe for me to leave? I don’t want to intrude on whoever’s apartment this is.”

“I can’t just teleport outside for people to see me appear and disappear into thin air. And you’re not intruding. It’s mine and Kim’s apartment anyway. He’ll be coming over in the morning.”

Donghyuck wonders why Jaehyun wouldn’t just bring him to his base, given that it’d probably be safer if he didn’t know where Jaehyun was actually living. “Why is he coming over?”

Jaehyun smirks and Donghyuck doesn’t know if he should be scared. He hadn’t heard of Kim besides the few times he saw his profile in the Dream headquarters, so he’s not sure what Kim would do to him. Then, Jaehyun pulls out something from his pocket.

“You have the Crown Jewel?” Donghyuck only lowers his voice at the end of his sentence, cautious about who might be listening beyond the walls of this apartment. 

Jaehyun tosses the jewel up and down, playing with it as if with a toy and not Donghyuck’s object of desire. Donghyuck watches him in confusion and slight annoyance. “I don’t ever back out of a mission,” he says, hurtling a clear attack at Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck’s annoyance grows. Jaehyun's amusement never seems to end. “If you’re wondering what I’m going to do with it,” he starts, “that’s not for you to know just yet.”

Now, Donghyuck really has to try to control the hotness building up at his fingertips. “I’m going to bed.”

Jaehyun follows Donghyuck, waiting for him to realise that he doesn’t even know where the guest room is. Donghyuck turns around only to see Jaehyun leaning up against the wall in a manner that drives Donghyuck crazy. His arm is pressed up against the edge, fingertips pressed loosely against the wall. Donghyuck is at his wit’s end now. “You’re taking the couch. There are only two beds in this place, and Kim will wipe you out if you even enter his room.”

“What? No.  _ You’re _ the one who kidnapped  _ me _ . You can take the couch for today, and I’ll get the bed.”

Jaehyun scoffs and starts to walk up towards Donghyuck. “Kidnap you? I saved your life. You’re taking the couch.”

Two can play that game, Donghyuck thinks. He leans in, “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you supposed to be my Prince Charming? If you weren’t there at the same time, I would’ve been in and out of there,  _ with _ the crown jewel. I’m taking the bed.”

Jaehyun’s so unbelievably close now that Donghyuck can almost feel his hot breaths of frustration on his forehead. “Yeah? And what about the guards I took out? Who knows what the menacing Inferno would have done to the whole place just to knock out two guards. Not the same accident that happened two years ago hopefully.” 

Jaehyun’s words cut through Donghyuck’s anger. The warmth in his body is dispelled instantly, flooding out like a broken dam and he wonders if every person in this goddamn city knew what had happened. That it was all his fault and he was one of the most dangerous 19-year-olds out there. He looks up to see Jaehyun register his words, eyes softening, an apology at the tip of his tongue two seconds too late. 

“I’ll take the couch. Thanks,” and heads past Jaehyun. 

**Two years ago**

Mark isn’t budging. 

“Mark, come on! It’ll be fun, I promise.” Donghyuck’s slumped over Mark’s body, who clearly is having a hard time trying to finish his essay due in two days with a persistent Donghyuck leaning over his shoulder. 

“I have to finish this essay.” Mark’s stubborn when he has to be, but usually, it didn’t seem to work against Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck starts to pepper kisses on Mark’s jaw dipping into his neck, and Mark knows he’s a goner. He sighs and leans back against his chair, letting Donghyuck wrap his arms around his chest and kiss his cheeks once, twice, and countless times after that too. 

“You have one more day to finish it anyway. I’ll help you through it too! We just never go to parties together anymore.” Mark knows Donghyuck won’t be helping him through it, but he also knows that he hasn’t gone out with Donghyuck in a while. 

He sighs. “Get ready in 20 minutes.”

* * *

Donghyuck steps out of the car and Mark’s immediately by his side. Mark hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off Donghyuck for a while, and Donghyuck almost had to scold him to remind him to keep his eyes on the road. 

It’s Yukhei’s party, which means it’s loud and big, much like the host himself. They go in and Donghyuck leads Mark right to the drinks. He spots the other boys too and they head over to Renjun, Jaemin and Jeno. 

“Look who showed up!”

Mark rolls his eyes. It had been quite a while since he’s seen Renjun apart from their neighbourhood shifts together. They couldn’t talk much there either. 

After that, it’s just a matter of catching up with his classmates and keeping an eye on Donghyuck, who seemed to be just a sip of jungle juice ahead of tipsy. He’s sitting down on the couch next to Jaemin and Jeno, and they’re talking about having a competition set up during their shifts to make it a little less boring. Mark’s watching Donghyuck dance near the edge of the dance floor. His moves tell him he’s too buzzed to notice exactly how bad he was dancing, and definitely too drunk to care. 

Mark’s smile disappears when Sungwoo latches onto Donghyuck from behind, dancing while staring at Donghyuck so predatorily that Mark’s instinct is to get up. Jaemin’s hand stops him before he can go anywhere and he yells to Mark something about letting Donghyuck handle it. 

Mark’s perfectly okay with letting Donghyuck handle it. In fact, he would prefer to let him. But Donghyuck still didn’t have a proper sense of control over his power yet, and being drunk meant nothing good. Still, he lets Donghyuck and Sungwoo dance for a bit and relaxes a little when they both step back to leave space in between. 

But then Donghyuck’s calling him over, and Mark is wired to come at his beck and call. If he had to pinpoint where it all goes wrong, that undeniable fact would be a good place to start. 

Mark wraps his arm around Donghyuck and Sungwoo freezes when he catches it. He looks up to glare at Mark and Mark cautiously pulls Donghyuck closer towards him. Sungwoo smirks and pulls Donghyuck by the arm. Mark tries not to let his jealousy get the better of him, but that goes out the window when Sungwoo harnesses extra strength that he uses to wrestle Donghyuck from Mark’s grip and lead him upstairs. Mark follows closely behind. 

He’s led into an empty room and takes one look at Donghyuck to realise he’s scared. He probably also realised that he was way too drunk to use anything, and now Mark’s eye twitches out of anger. 

“Mark. I would leave if I were you.”

Mark’s fist closes. Sungwoo sighs and smiles at Mark before taking a swing at his face. Mark falls back against the wall with a crash and he can hear Donghyuck shout his name. Sungwoo walks towards him and picks him up by the collar, throwing him against the bed where he’s sure his arm is broken by the way he lands. Donghyuck starts to cry and Mark decides to use his laser. Before he can switch his eyes, he sees Sungwoo lunge for Donghyuck and hold him in front of his body, knowing Mark wouldn’t dare use his eyes if Donghyuck would be in the way.

Mark internally curses and tries to get up. He’s too slow and suddenly Sungwoo is in front of him, arm at the ready, and Mark knows that with one more hit, he’s out. He flails and tries to switch his eyes but his breathing is already shallow and his head feels way too light. 

Sungwoo’s fist comes into view but before he can scream at Donghyuck to run, he sees fire from his left, hot flames appear right before Mark and engulf Sungwoo’s body. He’s dropped to the floor and opens his eyes just in time to see Donghyuck’s eyes turn yellow and his flames to light up his entire body. 

“Donghyuck,” he tries. But he’s coughing out blood and Sungwoo’s screams fill the room. “Donghyuck! Stop. Please.”

He’s on the floor but he can’t move, and Jaemin’s face comes into view from the doorway, rushing towards Donghyuck. Suddenly, the flames stop and Donghyuck falls to the floor next to him.

Sungwoo’s limp body doesn’t move, and Jaemin, Mark and Donghyuck are the only ones breathing. 

“Donghyuck,” Mark whispers, “run.”

**Present**

Donghyuck wakes up to the sun filtering into the room and into his eyes, and to Jaehyun walking out of the shower, water dripping down the length of his torso as he grabs the nearest shirt.

To Donghyuck’s disappointment, Jaehyun puts on the shirt and notices Donghyuck’s stare. “Like what you see?”

Donghyuck’s shameless. “Maybe.”

Jaehyun smiles and then it’s gone. “About yesterday, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

Donghyuck shrugs. “It’s okay. It’s not the first time someone would have mentioned it to me anyway.”

“Well, they shouldn’t. Not when they don’t know the whole story, right?”

He’s surprised, to say the least. He didn’t expect Jaehyun to get it so quickly. Not when others would see him as a murderer, someone so young, reckless and so dangerous that they really shouldn’t get on his bad side. The only reason Dream even tolerated him was because Mark was still there. Jaehyun hadn’t labelled him ‘other’ like everyone else had. Even Yangyang was afraid, though he’d never tell it to his face. 

Jaehyun heads to the kitchen. “Get up. We have an hour to go do the grocery shopping and cook something before Kim arrives.”

And Donghyuck doesn’t need to make another bad impression, so he gets up. 

* * *

“So, why are they going after you again?”

“Because half of them are afraid that I’m blowing up shit on purpose and don’t care about hurting people. And the other half are afraid for me. That I won’t follow and live by their rules and end up like some—”

“Reject?” Jaehyun asks, but his lips are twitching and Donghyuck has to ask.

“Is this funny to you?”

Jaehyun lets his smile break out and Donghyuck swoons at the sight of his dimples. “That your ex-friends and ex-boyfriend think you’re going through a rebellious phase and are blackmailing you to get you back on their side? Yes, it is pretty funny to me.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes and grabs a bag for the tomatoes. He can’t help but smile at the situation though. When Jaehyun puts it like that, sheds the light differently, it does seem amusing. 

“They’re like your second set of parents, honestly. Wait, minus the ex-boyfriend. That’s a bit weird.”

Donghyuck laughs. “A bit? To be honest, sometimes I think back to the past and I do miss them. Sometimes, it’s like they were the parents I didn’t have around. And it’s not like I have any other friends either.”

Jaehyun peers at him out of the corner of his eye while grabbing the pasta. “Oh, I’m sorry. Then why can’t you just go back?”

Donghyuck doesn’t speak for a while, reaching up to grab the eggs. “I can’t. I can’t handle being looked at like I’m a murderer from the people I used to call my friends, you know. And the only person who doesn’t do that, Mark, wants me to be exactly like them. He doesn’t get it when I tell him that the more I try to control my fire, the more dangerous it becomes when I let it out. He thinks I can live my whole life without ever using my powers again.”

Jaehyun stops suddenly. Donghyuck turns around to face him in the middle of the aisle. “I’ll train you. To use your powers and to control them.”

When Donghyuck stays silent, Jaehyun continues. “My headquarters have good facilities. And my team, they’re all trained.”

Donghyuck lets his mouth curl up at the ends and Jaehyun raises his eyebrow for an answer. “Okay, Valentine. I’ll try it out.” 

* * *

Donghyuck starts unpacking the groceries, asking where everything goes every two minutes. It all feels disgustingly domestic to him, even though Jaehyun is essentially a hot stranger and he doesn’t seem to know much about him either. 

Still, Donghyuck enjoys his company and how easy it is to talk to Jaehyun. It’s something he doesn’t receive much anymore, and Donghyuck’s just glad Jaehyun, for all the evil actions he stands for, isn’t so set on killing Donghyuck anymore.

The doorbell rings and Donghyuck just hopes Kim doesn’t hate him, doesn’t force him to leave his apartment and toss him to the streets, or to Dream. He’s not sure what would be worse.

The door swings open and it’s worse than Donghyuck had ever imagined. Jaehyun’s smile drops looking between the two of them.

“Doyoung?” He adds two more names to his list. 

List of people in line to kill Donghyuck:

  1. Mark
  2. Doyoung
  3. Johnny 



  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/MLEECITY)


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